D
DL82
Guest
Has anyone heard of them before? No, you haven’t, because they don’t exist (yet?)
An idea I’ve been mulling over, since thinking about how best I can serve the Church as me, not pretending to have some other vocation. (spent the past year and a half trying to force myself into wanting a vocation to priesthood or religious life, but never really had one in the first place).
Here’s the idea - an order of permanent deacons who respond to the present vocations crisis by freeing up priests to be priests.
More detail - St Benedict Joseph Labre, patron of pilgrims and of the mentally ill, spent time discerning vocations with the Cistercians, Carthusians and Trappists, he was refused by all of them because of certain problems with following a rule, which some modern commentators think may have been a form of autism. He spent the rest of his life as a wandering pilgrim, travelling all the great pilgrimage routes of Europe, in the style of the ancient ‘fool for Christ’, he ended his days as a poor beggar on the streets of Rome.
Following St Benedict Labre, these deacons will be sent out, after their initial formation, to take a major pilgrimage route. (I think we need to draw from the Franciscan tradition and send them out in pairs) Let’s say they start in Scotland* (since that’s where I am), they might be told to walk to Santiago de Compostella. The rule is, they never pass a church without asking the parish priest if he has any work for them, and they never enter a diocese without writing in advance and putting themselves at the disposal of the local Bishop. The bishop can use them for as long as he likes. They might set out for Spain and never get beyond Edinburgh. By having a pair of deacons to work on outreach and projects in a parish, the priest is freed up to his priestly duties. The work is more important, the pilgrimage just gives a general pattern to their wandering. If they don’t find work in the place they are staying, they can work with the homeless in that city, helping them to become more independent, preaching the gospel, and living alongside them.
The details of the rule and habit etc. aren’t there yet. I guess, given St Benedict Labre’s life, the rule will have to be drawn from the Carthusian/Cistercian and Trappist traditions. One particular Carthusian tradition which I like, and have adopted myself, is that when they enter or leave the house/room where they are staying, the brothers should kneel and pray a Hail Mary. The rest is unclear.
Why St Benedict Joseph Labre? I don’t know - he chose me.
Why deacons not priests? Again, I can’t say, that’s just me and my call.
How would I go about testing such a vocation? Become a deacon first, then try to set it up? Go off wandering somewhere for a few months to see if it’s possible? Any volunteers to accompany me?
What do people think?
An idea I’ve been mulling over, since thinking about how best I can serve the Church as me, not pretending to have some other vocation. (spent the past year and a half trying to force myself into wanting a vocation to priesthood or religious life, but never really had one in the first place).
Here’s the idea - an order of permanent deacons who respond to the present vocations crisis by freeing up priests to be priests.
More detail - St Benedict Joseph Labre, patron of pilgrims and of the mentally ill, spent time discerning vocations with the Cistercians, Carthusians and Trappists, he was refused by all of them because of certain problems with following a rule, which some modern commentators think may have been a form of autism. He spent the rest of his life as a wandering pilgrim, travelling all the great pilgrimage routes of Europe, in the style of the ancient ‘fool for Christ’, he ended his days as a poor beggar on the streets of Rome.
Following St Benedict Labre, these deacons will be sent out, after their initial formation, to take a major pilgrimage route. (I think we need to draw from the Franciscan tradition and send them out in pairs) Let’s say they start in Scotland* (since that’s where I am), they might be told to walk to Santiago de Compostella. The rule is, they never pass a church without asking the parish priest if he has any work for them, and they never enter a diocese without writing in advance and putting themselves at the disposal of the local Bishop. The bishop can use them for as long as he likes. They might set out for Spain and never get beyond Edinburgh. By having a pair of deacons to work on outreach and projects in a parish, the priest is freed up to his priestly duties. The work is more important, the pilgrimage just gives a general pattern to their wandering. If they don’t find work in the place they are staying, they can work with the homeless in that city, helping them to become more independent, preaching the gospel, and living alongside them.
The details of the rule and habit etc. aren’t there yet. I guess, given St Benedict Labre’s life, the rule will have to be drawn from the Carthusian/Cistercian and Trappist traditions. One particular Carthusian tradition which I like, and have adopted myself, is that when they enter or leave the house/room where they are staying, the brothers should kneel and pray a Hail Mary. The rest is unclear.
Why St Benedict Joseph Labre? I don’t know - he chose me.
Why deacons not priests? Again, I can’t say, that’s just me and my call.
How would I go about testing such a vocation? Become a deacon first, then try to set it up? Go off wandering somewhere for a few months to see if it’s possible? Any volunteers to accompany me?
What do people think?
- my initial thought would be to have the formation house in Aberdeen (about as far North in the UK as you can get - so there’s plenty of territory to pass through on the way to pilgrimage) and to dedicate it to Our Lady of Good Success, aka Our Lady of Aberdeen, a pre-reformation apparition of Our Lady which directed the Bishop when he was deciding where to place a bridge over the river Don. It was a shrine to travellers, to thank Our Lady for their success in making the long and sometimes perilous journey through the highlands. Why? I was born there, it’s one of the few places in Scotland where many people held the Catholic faith and were untouched by the reformation, and it’s now the most secularised part of Britain, and in dire need of priests and missionaries.
